"Prince of Good Fellows"
METCALFE, James Henry, M.P.P. and M.P. - Born at Kingston,
Ontario, Canada, January 8, 1848, James was the eldest child of six born to
John Metcalfe and Gladwise Bridget Matthews. Educated in Kingston, at the age
of 16 years, he became a school teacher and head master in several Kingston
schools until the age of 33.
In 1869 James married Margaret Jane Clute (1849-1911), second daughter of
Fraser and Lucinda Clute of Amherst Island and eleven children were born to
them. Between 1880-1886 Mr. Metcalfe was an Auctioneer and Commissioner of
Crown Lands in Kingston and the Northern Territories. His father, John, had
emigrated from Bainbridge, Yorkshire, England and was a well-respected man in
Frontenac County and was known especially for his knowledge of horses and their
breeding. It followed that James carried on the tradition and he also became
well-known and respected within racing circles, both in Canada and the United
States.
During the Kingston Races on Victoria Day, 1901, a newspaper article referred
to him as "that good horseman and prince of good fellows". James was
the proud owner of more than one winner.
Mr. Metcalfe was active in all levels of government as a member of the
Conservative Party - municipal, provincial, federal. Alderman representing
Frontenac Ward on Kingston City Council 1873-1878, Member of the Ontario
Provincial Parliament (M.P.P.) for Kingston Riding 1879-1892, elected for
Kingston Riding to Canada Federal Parliament (M.P.) 1893-1896, after Sir John
A. Macdonald's death. During the 1892 Dominion election, the Ottawa Journal
referred to James as "not much style about him, but he's a good one to
go". Mr. Metcalfe was a close friend of Sir John. In 1896 he was appointed
Warden of the Kingston Penitentiary at Portsmouth and remained there until his
retirement in 1899.
James was a collector of the written word, many of those words were his own in
the poems he wrote. Margaret Jane Clute died in 1911 and James Henry Metcalfe
died on January 1, 1925 at Kingston, Ontario and their grave site is at
Cataraqui Cemetery, Kingston.
Submitted by Ruth Carr (James Henry Metcalfe was the Great Uncle of Ruth Carr,
M#912) |
Lee Metcalf "Born in Stevensville on January 28, 1911,
Lee Metcalf was the first Montana native to serve the state in the U.S. Senate.
After graduating from Stanford University in 1936, he earned his law degree
from the University of Montana Law School. Metcalf was a state legislator,
assistant Montana Attorney General and Associate Justice of the Montana Supreme
Court prior to his election to Congress in 1952." He was a liberal and
conservationist and led many fights for the protection of federal forest and
grazing lands. In 1961 he became a Senator winning three races and serving
until his death in Helena, Montana, January 12, 1978.
Lee Metcalf Forest was named in his memory. His ashes are
scattered in one of his favourite areas in Montana. Author of
Overcharge, 1967. A book about him was written by Richard Warden:
Metcalf of Montana: How a Senator Makes Government Work, 1965. 
METCALFE, James, M.P. - Born in Cumberland, England,
1822; son of James Metcalfe and Anne Finlinson; married Ellen Howson, 1843;
attended school at Manchester, England; came to Canada, 1841, and became a
builder at Toronto; emigrated to Australia, 1851, but returned to Toronto in
1858; was again a builder and real estate broker and financier at Toronto; was
Vice President, Royal Canadian Bank; elected to the House of Commons, 1867, for
York East, Ontario; re-elected, 1872, 1874; defeated, 1878; Liberal; died, 3
September 1886, at Toronto, Ontario. From the Canadian Directory of Parliament
1867-1967 (Submitted by Ruth Carr, M#912)
